International

President Donald Trump put forth a dizzying array of fuzzy accounting and outright false claims in an extraordinary phone call to Georgia’s secretary of state seeking a reversal of his election defeat, fabricating a slew of votes that he said should’ve been counted in his favor.

TOKYO (Kyodo) — Reactions were mixed following Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga's suggestion Monday that the government may soon declare a state of emergency over the coronavirus in Tokyo and three neighboring prefectures, following an unabated rise in infections over the New Year holidays.

ATLANTA (AP) — President Donald Trump pressured Georgia’s Republican secretary of state to “find” enough votes to overturn Joe Biden’s win in the state’s presidential election, repeatedly citing disproven claims of fraud and raising the prospect of “criminal offense” if officials did not change the vote count, according to a recording of the conversation.

TOKYO (Kyodo) — The Japanese prime minister and International Olympic Committee chief promised the Tokyo Games will demonstrate the world is winning the war against the coronavirus pandemic. But is it really a good idea to go ahead with the Olympics?

LOS ANGELES (AP) — As communities across the country feel the pain of a surge in coronavirus cases, funeral homes in the hot spot of Southern California say they must turn away grieving families as they run out of space for the bodies piling up.

MOJIANG, China (AP) — Deep in the lush mountain valleys of southern China lies the entrance to a mine shaft that once harbored bats with the closest known relative of the COVID-19 virus.

HONG KONG (AP) — Relatives of the 10 Hong Kongers accused of fleeing the city by speedboat during a government crackdown on dissent say they’ve been informed that their family members pleaded guilty, according to a support group.

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — President-elect Joe Biden is warning of massive damage done to the national security apparatus by the Trump administration and “roadblocks” in communication between agency officials and his transition team that could undermine Americans’ security.

HONG KONG (Xinhua) — At seven o'clock in the morning, housewives rushed to a shared kitchen in the open corridors in the center of "H" shaped blocks of buildings, gossiping while preparing breakfast, with the sound of fire alarms triggered by old-fashioned kerosene stoves ringing in the background.

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. health officials believe the coronavirus mutation that set off alarms in parts of Britain is no more apt to cause serious illness or be resistant to vaccines than the strain afflicting people in the United States but it still must be taken “very seriously,” the government’s top infectious disease expert said Sunday.